Skip James 1920s and 1930s What did James accomplish in the 20s and 30s? In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi.
Did he get the part he was auditioning for?
Did Skip James get the part he was auditioning for with H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi?
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.  As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music - blues, spirituals, cover versions and original compositions - frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.  The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown. CANNOTANSWER
His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.

His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during  the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.

After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists.  He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."

Biography

Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.

1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.

As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.

The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.

Rediscovery and legacy 
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.

More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians.  However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups.  James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.  Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.

In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary.  James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.

James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.

James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.

In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".

Musical style

James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.

The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."

Discography

Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931

Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
 Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)

References

External links
 Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin

1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers
Faye Smythe (born 25 November 1985) is a New Zealand television actor, best known for her role in Shortland Street as Nurse Tania Jeffries.

Early life
Smythe, is of mixed race ancestry and was born in Cape Town. She emigrated to New Zealand with her family at the age of eleven. Smythe finished high school and started work on a communications degree, but left college to train as a fitness instructor. She was still pursuing acting, but after auditioning unsuccessfully for a number of parts, including Shortland Street character Tania Jeffries, Smythe decided to put her acting ambitions on hold for a year and re-enrolled for university. When she got a callback for Tania, she wasn't sure she even wanted the part - but she did the audition, and was asked to join the Shortland Street cast. Smythe also was on Legend of the Seeker as Sister Merissa.

Shortland Street
Smythe first auditioned for Shortland Street for the part of Tama Hudson's sister, Mihi. She did not get the part, but made an impact on the producers. She was asked to audition for Shannon, before being offered her the six-week role of Tama's cat-burgling friend Kat.

Filmography

References

External links

Living people
Cape Coloureds
New Zealand television actresses
New Zealand soap opera actresses
1985 births
South African emigrants to New Zealand
21st-century New Zealand actresses Andrew "Andy" Whyment (born 2 April 1981) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Darren Sinclair-Jones in the BBC sitcom The Royle Family and Kirk Sutherland on Coronation Street.

Career
Whyment trained at the Laine Johnson Theatre School in Salford. His first credited part was in Cracker in 1993.  He also had minor roles in The Cops, Heartbeat and Where the Heart Is. From 1999 to 2000, Whyment appeared as Darren Sinclair-Jones in the BBC sitcom The Royle Family. Since 2000, he has played Kirk Sutherland in Coronation Street.

In 2006, Whyment appeared as a contestant in the ITV reality singing competition Soapstar Superstar. In July 2010, he was seen at an audition for The X Factor audition in Manchester; he was auditioning under his Coronation Street character and sang the Kings of Leon song "Sex on Fire". He also took part in the 2012 series of Dancing on Ice and was paired up with professional skater Vicky Ogden.

In 2019, He participated in the nineteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and finished in second place.

Personal life
Whyment married his long-term girlfriend Nichola in 2007. They have two children, Thomas and Hollie.

Awards
 2003 – British Soap Award for Best Comedy Performance

References

External links
 
 

1981 births
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
English male soap opera actors
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants
Living people
Male actors from Salford